By Daniel Dunaief
For Lori Perez, Alyssa Nakken was a can’t-miss softball prospect. Perez was an Assistant Softball Coach at Sacramento State University, while Nakken was, at the time, a junior at Woodland High School in California.
“She was a no-brainer,” Perez said. “She was 5’10”, athletic, and played multiple sports [including basketball and volleyball]. She was home grown and had great family support.”
Indeed, when Perez saw Nakken, who was a pitcher during high school, he witnessed a player who was throwing 64 miles per hour at her father, Robert Nakken, a lawyer.
“Seeing her out there, grinding away, I could see her making an impact,” Perez said.
What Perez witnessed during Nakken’s four years at Sacramento State, which included two years as captain, was a player determined to push herself on and off the field. When Nakken was recently named the first female assistant coach of the San Francisco Giants, a team Nakken and Perez support as fans, Perez was delighted and thrilled not only for women, who have earned jobs men had held for years, but also for her former player.
Perez believes Nakken will be as successful through her contributions to the Giants as she was with softball teams she helped lead.
Nakken, who will not be in the dugout during games, will throw batting practice and will work on base running and team unity.
Nakken has a “great personality” and is “charismatic,” Perez said. The question, however, is whether baseball players will listen to her.
“She will prove herself, no doubt,” Perez offered.
Perez recalls observing Nakken watch videos, ask questions and put in considerable extra work.
“She went above and beyond to push herself,” Perez said. Nakken “put in long hours, knows the game well, understands how it’s supposed to be played and how hard and often you need to practice.”
The game of softball has numerous differences from its baseball cousin, including a smaller diamond, no leading, a bigger ball, and different starting point for bunt defenses.
Nakken, who has been working with the Giants since 2014, will be able to rely on some of the similarities to a game she excelled in as a player, while also tapping into a deep reservoir of energy and determination to contribute to a different sport, Perez suggested.
Megan Bryant, the head softball coach at Stony Brook University, said the fundamentals in the two games are similar.
“Fielding skills and arm angles [for throwing] are similar,” Bryant said.
Perez said middle infielders in both sports drop their left leg after they field a ball to throw to make a side arm throw at the start of a double play.
Perez recalled how she was holding her young daughter one day and was looking for a diaper while Nakken was taking batting practice. Nakken hit a ball that flew at the Perez and her infant daughter Caroline. At the last minute, Perez turned so the ball hit her arm and her daughter’s leg.
“She felt terrible,” Perez said, laughing about the incident now. “I knew I shouldn’t have been standing there. You think in terms of family connections and how close you get with these players. It’s huge.”
Indeed, Perez believes Nakken was fortunate to continue her softball career after she was in a car accident in which her vehicle flipped over.
“I have no idea how she walked out of that car accident alive,” Perez said. “She must have had an angel looking over her shoulder that day.”
Nakken had a storybook ending to her senior year. During senior day, she crushed a home run to left field in her first at bat. In her second time at the plate, she hit another home run to right field. The third time up, she crushed a ball to deep center field that the outfielder caught. Nakken ended up going two for four with three runs batted in during a game Sacramento State won 12-4.
